UNMAKING CITIZENS: THE EXPANSION OF CITIZENSHIP REVOCATION IN RESPONSE TO TERRORISM illustrate what some have dubbed the, “Harper government’s attack on citizenship.”39 C-24 itself was a robust and detailed law that outlined a tiered citizenship and citizenship revocation system. According to C-24, citizenship revocation (or renunciation on the basis of illegal or criminal actions) applies to: (1) individuals obtaining citizenship by fraud or false representation; (2) all dual citizens, retroactively (before and after C-24); (3) individuals engaged in treasonous activities; (4) convicted terrorists; (5) and convicted traitors or individuals convicted of committing other serious national security offenses, as defined under the National Defence Act and/or Security of Information Act.40 Additionally, like Australia’s equivalent revocation Act, C-24 targeted dual citizens. By creating laws specifically designed for dual citizens, this policy has also created a tiered citizenship system in which dual citizens (which are primarily immigrants and ethnic or racial minorities) are subject to differentiated and inequitable laws.41 Canada’s Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act – which was amended in June 2017 under Bill C-6 – was controversial during its brief lifespan.42 Additionally, while the Trudeau government spoke against C-24, citizenship revocation cases actually rose under Trudeau.43 Although we were unable to receive citizenship revocation numbers or cases through our government information requests, according to a 2016 CBC report, between June 2014 and August 2016, there were 242 revocation cases; the majority of which occurred under the Trudeau government.44 Additionally, 312 revocation cases under the purview of the Canadian Federal Court were declared void because under the original language of the 2014 Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, individuals were not provided a fair oral hearing and, “did not take into account humanitarian and compassionate considerations.”45 The number of voided cases reveals the extensive impact of expanded citizenship revocation in Canada. While the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act has since been amended, the sheer numbers of cases during this short legal window illustrates the precedence and lasting damage revocation policies can cause. United Kingdom The United Kingdom has a more robust legal precedence and practice of citizenship revocation than Australia or Canada. The ability to revoke or deprive individuals of their British citizenship, or effectively banish them from the UK without full, legal revocation, can be found in a number of legal instruments including 39 Shafiq Qaadri, “The Harper government’s attack on citizenship,” The Star, November 3, 2014, http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/11/03/the_harper_governments_attack_on_citizenship.html. 40 Ibid. 41 Forcese, “A Tale of Two Citizenships”; Omar Ha-Redeye, “Born in Canada, Not a Citizen, But No Place to Go,” Slaw: Canada’s Online Legal Magazine, December 11, 2016, http://www.slaw.ca/2016/12/11/born-in-canada-not-a-citizen-but-no-place-to-go/. 42 Forcese, “A Tale of Two Citizenships”; Ha-Redeye, “Born in Canada, Not a Citizen, But No Place to Go”; Charlie Smith, “Liberal government plans to scrap two-tier citizenship,” The Georgia Straight, November 7, 2015, http://www.straight.com/news/573696/liberal-government-plans-scrap-two-tier-citizenship; Somayeh Bahrami, “Critical Review of the New Canadian Citizenship Law Bill C-24,” Bilingual Comment, February 26, 2016, http://www.sfu.ca/education/cels/bilingual/bilingual-corner/bill-c-24.html; The Canadian Press, “Dual Canadian citizens convicted of terrorism will no longer lose citizenship under new bill,” Global News, June 15, 2017, http://globalnews.ca/news/3532646/bill-c6passes-senate/. 43 Evan Dyer, “Trudeau government revoking citizenship at much higher rate than Conservatives,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), October 9, 2016, http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/citizenship-revocation-trudeau-harper-1.3795733. 44 Ibid. 45 Tu Thanh Ha, “Federal Court voids Canadian citizenship revocation for 312 people,” The Globe and Mail, July 12, 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/federal-court-voids-canadian-citizenship-revocation-for-312people/article35675424/ Center for Migration Studies of New York | 6